However the full cost of the exercise would never be recovered, he said.
"We ask for a reimbursement but we can't force them to pay," Mr Whitehead said.
Tauranga Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker said depending on circumstances, people would be asked to pay a donation for their rescue, otherwise the costs incurred would be covered by their operational funds. It also depended if police got involved, he said.
"We rely on volunteers and they generously donate their time so we have no direct cost on them and that helps keep costs down but our running charges are about $250 per hour. So this little exercise will cost a few thousand dollars in total," Mr Barker said.
Coastguard recouped some of their operational costs through membership, fundraising and donations.
Mr Whitehead said most people who had been helped by Coastguard happily paid a contribution to the cost incurred.
"We are not government funded so it is pretty hard [to generate funding]. We can't fine people but we can ask them to contribute.
"We will never get the whole cost back but 90 per cent of the people will happily make a contribution," he said.
Police were alerted to the search and rescue event but were not involved.
Mr Whitehead said the weekend incident served as a timely reminder for boaties to be well prepared before they headed out on the water.
